Dear BNET reader,

Even if you aren't a public relations professional, you should still hone your public speaking skills from time to time. It doesn't matter if you'll be addressing a roomful of strangers at a conference or your peers in the monthly status meeting, you should still strive to be a clear, engaging, and active speaker!

These articles are packed with ideas to help you sizzle -- not fizzle -- at the podium.

Speechwriting Under the Gun
The higher you rise in the corporate ranks, the more you're expected to speak on public occasions, and the shorter the preparation time often is. The temptation is to wing it or, if you do prepare something, not to rehearse but to rely on your native ability and good luck to see you through. The sad truth is that when you wing it, the performance is rarely as good in the audience's memory as it is in the speaker's. It doesn't matter to your audience if you have ten days or ten minutes to write a speech. You still must deliver. Here are tips for speeding your speech prep.

Represent Your Company With Style - Presentation Tips For Executives
As a supervisor, manager, or top executive attending a company event, there is at least a 99.9% chance that you will be called upon to speak. This includes retirement dinners, company picnics, service award banquets, conferences, management retreats, holiday luncheons, and (even) informal parties. What do you do? Here are tips to help you bring success to the event and credit to your role as a leader.

A Good Speech is Like a Good Relationship - 20 Tips for Presentation Success!
Contrary to what many people think, a speech is not a performance. Rather, it's a relationship -- ideally a meaningful one -- that you create with a group of people. Like any good relationship, a speech requires caring, trust, openness, accessibility, and two-way communication.

So You're Going to Make a Speech
You've been chosen (or drafted) to deliver a speech. Don't panic. This article covers everything from gathering materials to putting the final touches on your speech. It includes two basic outlines that work well for both beginning and advanced speakers alike.

Sharpen Presentation Skills Through Emotional Appeal
Effective presentation skills are vital to success. Whether you're closing a business deal in the boardroom, vying for a promotion, seeking support for a new idea at a business lunch, or standing in front of a large audience, how you connect with your audience can be the difference between a win and a miss. The winners get promotions, persuade their audiences, or make sales.

Powerful PowerPoint Presentations
We've collected our best PowerPoint tips articles to help your presentations resonate with the audience. The articles were originally published with trainers in mind, but full instructions are included so that any professional can make use of this information. It includes adding notes, audio, and animation to your next presentation.

Effective Sales Presentations: Advancing The Sales Cycle
Effective sales presentations are at the core of a successful sales cycle, yet many presentations miss the mark in terms of appropriate content and flow. While presentation skills contribute to the success (or failure) of a sales presentation, presentation effectiveness also hinges on the value of the message and the quality of the content. The sales team relies on the organization to deliver a solid presentation that they can successfully use in their selling efforts. Here are some proven methods for ensuring that sales team is armed with the content they need to win deals.

Sincerely,

Veronica Combs
BNET